Maha Kumbh Mela: Year In Review 2001

Maha Kumbh Mela , Millions of pilgrims, many of whom had traveled for days to participate in the Maha Kumbh Mela—“Great Pitcher Festival”—walked to the various camps set up on the sandy plains along the Ganges River.

About 110 million people, including more than 65,000 foreigners, gathered for the Hindu festival; this was believed to be the largest-ever congregation of people on the planet for a single purpose. The pilgrims went to the city of Allahabad (newly renamed Prayagraj), where the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and the invisible, mythical Saraswati converge, to wash away their sins. A dip in the river, Hindus believe, ensures moksha, liberation from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

According to Hindu mythology, gods and demons fought a battle in the sky over a pot containing the nectar of immortality. During the battle four drops of nectar fell at four different sites. Accordingly, Maha Kumbh Mela is held, on a rotation basis, every three years in one of four different cities (Nasik, Ujjain, Haridwar, and Allahabad) and thus returns to the same city every 12 years. The Allahabad festival is considered the holiest, and the 2001 event was considered especially propitious because of an unusual alignment of the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter that occurred only every 144 years.